Archive for the ‘Jewish Ritual’ Category


Breaking! Another NYC Baby Gets Herpes From Dangerous Haredi Circumcision Ritual

 

Metzitzah b'peh Chabad closeup

 

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has sent out an alert to medical providers warning them that another baby now has Herpes Simplex Virus 1 that was transmitted to the baby through metzitzah b’peh, the direct mouth-to-bleeding-penis sucking done briefly by haredi mohels after cutting off the foreskin.

Metzitzah b'peh Chabad closeup

Direct oral suction during ritual Jewish circumcision (metzitzah b’peh) has been documented to transmit herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 to newborn males (1-4). In December 2012, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) received a report of a new case of HSV-1 infection in a newborn male infant attributable to direct oral suction.
In total, 12 laboratory-confirmed cases of HSV-infection attributable to direct oral suction have now been reported to DOHMH from 2000 – 2012. Two of these infants died, and two others suffered brain damage (4). In the most recent case, the location of herpes lesions (on the penis), viral type (HSV type 1, which is commonly found in the mouth of adults), and timing of infection (10 days after circumcision) are consistent with transmission during direct contact between the mouth of the ritual circumciser (mohel) and the newly circumcised infant penis. When evaluating an ill infant boy in the weeks following circumcision, providers should inquire whether direct oral suction was performed during circumcision and consider infection with HSV or other oral pathogens. Consult with a pediatric infectious disease specialist for guidance regarding the diagnosis and management of an infant with suspected herpes infection; also, see reference #5 under “References and resources” at the end of this alert.…

 


Satmar Rebbe: Goyyim Are Murderers And Thieves, Blacks Might Have Killed Jews Over Obama Loss

Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum

“President Obama is from the Children of Ham [the biblical Noah’s Black  son], and in America there are many millions from the same race as  Obama. [Make no mistake, the] Children of Japheth [another son of the biblical Noah who was white; White Europeans, Caucasians] are not  any better than the Children of  Ham. Like all other goyyim, there are very many murders and thieves among them.”

Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum

Originally published at 10:39 pm CST 12-5-2012. Updated 10:32 am CST 12-6-2012 to reflect this correction: “Like all other goyyim, there are very many murders and thieves among them.”

This is a three-and-a-half minute excerpt from Rabbi Aharon Teitelbaum’s speech last night at the massive Satmar dinner in Williamsburg.Please click the gray bar to listen:

Rabbi Aharon Teitelbaum 12-4-12

What follows is a free translation done by a hasid. I Put that free translation into standard American English (whenever possible) to make it more easily understandable:

The president [Obama] is from the Children of  Ham [the biblical Noah’s Black son], and in America there are many millions from the same race as him.
[Make no mistake, the] Children of Japheth [another son of the biblical Noah who was white; White Europeans, Caucasians] are not any better than the Children of Ham. Like all other goyyim, there are very many murders and thieves among them.

Jews are in exile here [in America]. We are spread out in between the goyyim to earn our livings.

We should think about what would happen if the results in the US elections would have been different and President Obama would have had a downfall and lost.

It would now be known to whole world that Jews campaigned [against Obama and] that caused Obama to lose.
What kind of hatred against Jews [would have come from that]?!?! It would have caused massive sinat Yisrael [hatred against the Jewish people], [hatred] against thousands of Jews living here in US! The results for thousands Jews in all 50 States would have been terrible!

Simply put, the head of the Zionist regime [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] made Jewish blood hefker [free, connoting “Jewish blood is cheap”] in America. [Through his open support for Mitt Romney is risked many Jewish lives].

The Jews have not forgotten the pogroms in Crown Heights when the blood of Ya’akov Rosenbaum, may God avenge his blood, was spilled [by Blacks]!
With so many goyyim [non-Jews], [what Netanyahu did] is a great danger [to Jews] that has no end!

The politics that the state’s [Israel’s] prime minister does with the leaders of the Nations of the World, and what he did in Gaza – the provoking of conflict! – is very terrible!

It is very surprising that his religious [coalition] partners agree with him. They practice shtika k’hoda’ah [silence is equivalent to agreement] and give him endorsement with full mouths…


Follow German Court’s Lead And Ban Circumcision, Israeli Child Advocate Says

Bris Milah Circumcision Metzitzah B'peh closeup

Eran Sadeh, the founder of the Protect the Child website, argues that Israel should follow a German court’s lead and ban infant circumcision.

Bris Milah Circumcision Metzitzah B'peh closeup

Eran Sadeh, the founder of the Protect the Child website, argues in Ynet that Israel should follow a German court’s lead and ban infant circumcision.

Sadeh gives eight reasons why he believes that infant circumcision should be banned:

The following are eight reasons why the circumcision ritual should be abolished:

1. A whole member is more natural. Males and females are born with foreskin.

2. A whole member is more pleasurable. The foreskin is the most sexually sensitive part of the penis. Like the tips of the fingers and the lips, the foreskin contains a high concentration of blood cells and sensory nerve endings. The foreskin protects the glans and keeps its surface soft, moist, and sensitive.

3. A whole member is more protected. During infancy, the foreskin protects the glans of the penis and the urethra from irritation and infections. When the foreskin is removed, the glans and urethra are exposed to abrasion that can eventually cause scarring and urination problems. Ten out of every 100 circumcised children will have to undergo surgery to expand the opening of the urethra.

4. A whole penis is more common throughout the world. Some 80% of men are not circumcised (close to 100% in Europe, not including Jews and Muslims). In Israel, more and more parents are leaving their children’s members whole due to the massive amount of information that is available on the Internet on the subject.

5. A whole penis is more humane. Parents who do not circumcise their child spare him of a host of painful experiences: The pain of the knife cutting through the flesh and the pain of an open, bleeding wound which takes 7-10 days to heal. The trauma of the pain is etched in the infant’s mind and affects the way he reacts to pain in the future.

6. A whole penis is safer. Each year hundreds of babies are rushed to the emergency room due to various complications related to the removal of the foreskin: Constant hemorrhaging that requires surgical intervention or an infusion due to the massive loss of blood; dangerous infections; a distortion of the penis; pain during erection and more.

7. Parents who leave their baby’s penis whole are respecting their child’s basic right to grow up with a whole body, with the whole penis he was born with. Due to the availability of information on the subject, more and more men are aware of the irreversible emotional damage circumcision has caused them and feel violated.

8. A whole member is more ethical. A surgical procedure is considered justifiable – from a medical standpoint – when it meets two conditions: A – It is performed to treat a medical condition, disease or injury. B – It is the least invasive treatment available. Obviously, circumcision does not meet either requirement, as the procedure is performed on healthy babies.

I think point number three is demonstrably false. Point number six needs a comparison between the number of uncircumcised babies who get urinary tract infections and the number of circumcised babies who are damaged from the circumcision. Point number eight would be true if circumcision did not lower certain disease transmission risks and lower the incident rate of urinary tract infections and penile cancer.

This is a sloppy, poorly written, poorly supported piece – which is sad, because, agree with it or not,  a good argument can be made to ban infant circumcision.

Unfortunately, Sadeh lacks the tools, it seems, to make it.


 ”Any trial based on the assumption that Jews and goyim are equal is a total travesty of justice” — Prominent Jewish religious fanatic, Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh

 

Jewish Day School Textbook Challenged by Muslim Group for Vilifying Muslims

DateFriday, November 23, 2012

A Canadian Islamic organization is accusing a Toronto-area Jewish day school of using a textbook that vilifies Muslims.

In a Nov. 19 letter to Jewish groups, the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR-CAN, charges that a textbook used at the Joe Dwek Ohr HaEmet Sephardic School employs “inflammatory and hateful terms in describing Muslims.”

CAIR-CAN alleges that the book, “2000 Years of Jewish History,” describes Muslims as “rabid fanatics” with “savage beginnings.”

“The entire chapter devoted to Islam presents a pernicious and extreme portrayal of Muslims and the Islamic faith. The material further denigrates the Prophet Muhammad as a ‘rabid Jew-hater,’ and falsely portrays Islam as inherently anti-Semitic and devoted to hating Jews,” the group said in its letter to the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center For Holocaust Studies and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, or CIJA.

It said the text is used in grade 7 and 8 girls’ classes at the Orthodox Jewish day school and “leaves impressionable young Jewish readers with a sense of suspicion and even intolerance towards their fellow Canadians.”

The group wants the Centre for Jewish Education of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto to investigate.

No one from CIJA, the Wiesenthal Center or Ohr HaEmet responded to JTA’s requests for comment.

CAIR-CAN’s salvo comes on the heels of an investigation by Toronto-area police of a local Islamic school. Earlier this month, police cleared the school of hate crimes allegations following a complaint by Jewish groups. York Regional Police found that teaching materials at the East End Madrassah attacked Jews and “suggested intolerance,” but were not criminal.

Part of the madrassah’s curriculum encouraged boys to keep fit for jihad, compared Jews to Nazis, and referred to “Jewish plots and treacheries.”

The complaint “prompted change” at the madrassah, noted CAIR-CAN in its letter, adding that the group “welcomes that change.”

When police began their probe, the Toronto District School Board,  which rented space to the school, revoked its permit and the madrassah had to relocate.

JTA, 22 November 201


Indian Restaurant Drops State Kosher Supervision Over Rabbis’ Vegetable Demands
VegetablesAn Indian restaurant in the Machane Yehuda market in Jerusalem is reportedly the latest in a long line of food businesses which have dropped kosher supervision after facing what they say are “impossible demands” made by the state Rabbinate’s kosher supervisors.

Vegetables

Ynet reports that an Indian restaurant in the Machane Yehuda market in Jerusalem is reportedly the latest in a long line of food businesses which have dropped kosher supervision after facing what they say are “impossible demands” made by the haredi-controlled state Rabbinate’s kosher supervisors.

Ichikidana dropped its kosher certification after Shmuel Zamelman, Machane Yehuda’s new kashrut supervisor, reportedly began forcing restaurants in the market to buy their vegetables from specific stores.

Lehava Silman Herman, who owns Ichikidana, told Ynet that having a kashrut certificate just wasn’t worth the trouble.

“We are a vegan restaurant,” Silman Herman said, “so the kashrut is irrelevant, but we decided to cooperate with the Rabbinate because of religious Jews. After [Zamelman] arrived and decided that we must only buy in certain stores, I decided that I would not cooperate any longer.”

But the Rabbinate claims the change in the market’s long standing practice is actually no change at all.

“Every restaurant which receives a kosher certification must take leaves and vegetables [i.e., leafy vegetables and non-leafy vegetables] from a supervised place only. This has been a Rabbinate order for the past 30 years. The Rabbinate does not profit from this arrangement.”

There can be several kashrut issues with vegetables, primarily related to bug infestation and tithes.


Study Indicates That Herpes Frequently Sheds And Can Be Transmitted Even When Mohel Is Shows No Symptoms Of The Virus

Bris Milah Circumcision Metzitzah B'peh closeup

“At least 70% of the population shed HSV-1 asymptomatically at least once a month, and many individuals appear to shed HSV-1 more than six times a month. Shedding HSV-1 is present at many intraoral sites, for brief periods, at copy numbers sufficient to be transmitted, and even in seronegative individuals.”

Bris Milah Circumcision Metzitzah B'peh closeup
Metzitzah b’peh done in Israel, where it some Zionist Orthodox and Modern Orthodox mohels do the controversial oral sucking procedure, despite its risks to the baby.

Just in case your haredi rabbi says there is no evidence that herpes can be transmitted by metzitzah b’peh (MBP) – the direct oral-to-genital sucking done by many haredi mohels to the baby’s bleeding penis after removing its foreskin – even though babies have died and been maimed by herpes infections transmitted through MBP, or if he says that a mohel who has no outward signs of herpes can safely do MBP, you can cite this study, which shows both claims of your rabbi to be false:

Abstract: Asymptomatic Shedding of Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) in the Oral Cavity
Howard E. Strassler, DMD

Jan. 27, 2009
Inside Dentistry

Miller CS, Danaher RT. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 2008;105(1):43-50.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the rate of herpes simplex virus (HSV) shedding from the oral cavity, because recent studies suggest that shedding is more frequent than originally reported. Factors that could influence the rate and duration of shedding from the oral cavity were examined.

Methods: Existing epidemiologic data from 22 reports of HSV shedding from more than 3,500 individuals were analyzed with regard to demographics, frequency of sampling, and methodologic assays.

Results: HSV-1 was more likely to be detected than HSV-2 in the oral cavity of asymptomatic persons (7.5 odds ratio, 95% confidence interval 4.4–12.8; P < .0001). The rate of shedding was highly variable among individuals, ranging from none to 92% of the days tested, and occurred in seropositive and seronegative individuals. In cell culture studies, the rate of detection on a single day was 6.3%. Polymerase chain reaction studies provided a different picture. HSV-1 DNA was present in 97 of 180 patients (53.9%) at multiple visits, with a rate of daily detection of 33.3%. The mean duration of shedding was between 1 and 3 days, but more than 3 days in about 10% of the patients.

Conclusion: At least 70% of the population shed HSV-1 asymptomatically at least once a month, and many individuals appear to shed HSV-1 more than six times a month. Shedding HSV-1 is present at many intraoral sites, for brief periods, at copy numbers sufficient to be transmitted, and even in seronegative individuals. The dental implications of these findings are discussed.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is a significant human pathogen infecting most individuals early in life, predominantly at mucosal surfaces after exposure to infected secretions. It has been implicated in a range of diseases including labials and stomatitis, blinding keratitis, and, rarely, encephalitis. According to the data, more than 70% of adults have neutralizing antibodies and serve as reservoirs of the virus. The authors have done an excellent systematic review of the rate of shedding of HSV from the oral cavity. Asymptomatic shedding is generally defined as the presence of HSV in the absence of clinical lesions. Based on this review, the frequency of HSV shedding at virus numbers sufficient to be transmitted are significantly higher than most clinicians would suspect. These high frequencies of asymptomatic shedding suggest that HSV-1 is not as dormant during latency as previously believed. This translates to the fact that even without clinical lesions, the dentist, dental hygienist, and chairside assistant are at risk. This data emphasize the importance of being diligent in maintaining proper infection control procedures (eye protection, gloves, mask) when performing routine dental examinations and procedures. All efforts should be taken to minimize splashes and splatters of oral fluids even in the absence of HSV oral lesions. Also, medical conditions, eg, immunosuppression and traumatic oral surgical procedures, increase the likelihood of virus shedding in the oral cavity.

Howard E. Strassler, DMD
Professor and Director of Operative Dentistry
Department of Endodontics, Prosthodontics and Operative Dentistry
University of Maryland Dental School
Baltimore, Maryland

Baby Dies of Herpes in Ritual Circumcision By Orthodox Jews

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/baby-dies-herpes-virus-ritual-circumcision-nyc-orthodox/story?id=15888618

Baby’s Death Renews Debate Over a Circumcision Ritual

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/nyregion/infants-death-renews-debate-over-a-circumcision-ritual.html

How 11 New York City Babies Contracted Herpes Through Circumcision

http://healthland.time.com/2012/06/07/how-11-new-york-city-babies-contracted-herpes-through-circumcision/

Neonatal Herpes Simplex Virus Infection Following Jewish Ritual Circumcisions that Included Direct Orogenital Suction — New York City, 2000–2011

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6122a2.htm

NYC Puts at Least One Restriction on Mohels Sucking Freshly Circumcised Baby Penises

http://gawker.com/5947500/nyc-getting-closer-to-banning-adults-from-sucking-freshly-circumcised-baby-penises

Banned Herpes Mohel Still Circumcising Babies

http://gothamist.com/2012/03/14/authorities_investigating_herpes_mo.php

Circumcision’s Deadly Fault Line: Rationality vs. the Metzitzah B’Peh

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/06/10/circumcision-s-deadly-fault-line-rationality-vs-the-metzitzah-b-peh.html


Two More Babies Get Herpes From Haredi Circumcision Penis Sucking Ritual

Bris 2

Two Jewish infants in New Jersey were recently infected with Herpes Simplex Virus 1 from their ritual circumcisers’ use  of the same oral suctioning technique that caused the death of  an infant in New York in September.

Bris 2

Two Jewish babies were admitted to Monmouth Medical Center with genital Herpes Simplex Virus 1 transmitted by metzitzah b’peh, the Forward reported today.

Dr. Margaret Fisher, chair of pediatrics at the hospital and a pediatric  infectious disease specialist said one boy was admitted within the past month within days of his circumcision. The other case is older, she said, within the past year or two. The two infants had genital lesions. Dr. Fischer described the cases as “extremely mild.” The Forward notes that both infants were  successfully treated for 10 days with intravenous anti-viral medication.

Monmouth Medical Center is near Lakewood, N.J., which has a large haredi community and the largest haredi yeshiva in America.

The story also notes that New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo convened a meeting March 12, bringing together state health department officials and haredi leaders. Cuomo’s liaison to the Jewish community, Emily Saltzman, referred the Forward’s questions about the meeting to his press office, which did not respond to multiple messages.

Similar meetings in 2005 and early 2006 resulted in a circumcision protocol issued by the state which suggested mohels rinse their mouths with mouthwash immediately before doing MBP to stop transmission of the virus. The protocol was widely ridiculed by public health and medical professionals and was revoked in 2007 after Governor Pataki left office, The Jewish Week reported last week.

The Forward reports that:

Following public disclosure of the most recent HSV-1 infant, the New York City Health Department’s spokesman, John Kelly, would say only that “the city and health department are working with members of the community to address this issue.” Asked for details about how they are doing so, Kelly stated in an email, “We don’t yet have further details to share.”

That “public disclosure” was actually an exclusive report by the New York Daily News.

The Forward also notes that:

The procedure’s defenders point to the extremely low number of affected children, considering the the high birth rate for Orthodox families and the number of ritual circumcisions that include metzitzah b’peh. Between 10 and 15 children have been admitted to hospitals in the United States, Israel and Canada with the disease in well over a decade.

This is false. The Forward has confused the number of cases we know about with the number of cases that actually occured. For example, it appears to have been unaware of the two Rockland County cases reported by ABC last night. And the Forward also seems to be unaware that there is no mandatory reporting of HSV-1 in New Jersey. Therefore it is impossible to claim that there have been a finite number of cases, “between 10 and 15″ admitted to hospitals in the United  States, Israel and Canada in “well over a decade.”

We also have medical opinions that HSV-1 causes various degrees of  brain damage and that the vast majority of those cases are not  noticeable until long after the circumcision, and we have the very  real problem of non-reporting and of covering up of reporting, both of  which clearly happen. If anyone thinks Sha’arei Tzedek Hospital or  Laniado Hospital are accurately reporting the number and severity of MBP  HSV1 cases they get, I’ve got some very fertile land in the Mojave  Desert I’d like to sell you. The same is true for Bnei Brak’s doctors  and hospitals.

The Forward also wrote that the baby’s death was not “attributed to their ritual circumcisers’ use” of MBP, as if that attribution was made in a vacuum. But it wasn’t. The death was “attributed” to MBP by the medical examiner who did an autopsy on the baby and who had complete access to the baby’s medical records. Further, that cause of death is backed by the state’s Department of Health and the city’s Department of Health.

We also know that case was first reported by New York Daily News, which broke the story – and which should have been credited for doing so by the Forward but, oddly, was not. That’s the only reason we know about it. But there could be dozens of other cases of sickened babies, including cases where a MBP-transmitted HSV1 infection or even killed a baby. But we don’t know because the information is kept secret.

How many babies were buried without autopsies after intervention from haredi fixers even though those babies died shortly after MBP? How many MBP-sickened infants were treated without their cases being reported? How many haredi fixers prevented autopsies or convinced a family to treat their sick child outside the normal medical framework?

Babies die from MBP-transmitted HSV-1 infections. Babies are sickened by MBP-transmitted HSV-1 infections. Some of those babies are brain damaged by MBP-transmitted HSV1 infections. We don’t know how many because of medical secrecy laws like HIPAA and because of coverups by mohels, fixers and rabbis – and by doctors and politicians beholden to haredim.

Those are the facts.

And if we want to prevent more needless suffering and death, we must accurately represent them.

You can read the Forward’s report here.